No Greek chapters take advantage of Granville Towers housing next year

Granville Towers has been known for years as a prime spot for members of the Greek community to live, and UNC is now making it official.

But at least for next year, no chapters have accepted the proposal.

Under the new option, Greek students could be grouped with others in their organization, with the option of sharing a floor with other fraternities or sororities if one couldn’t fill a floor.

“A mix between Granville people, housing people and Greek people came up with the idea,” said Rick Bradley, assistant director of the Department of Housing and Residential Education.

The organizations will also have the opportunity to rent a room at a discounted rate to use as a meeting space. The beds would be taken out of the room and replaced with tables and chairs.

Resident advisers assigned to the floors would be individuals who express an interest in the Greek community.

Each floor would also have a Greek connections guide, or a member of a different Greek organization who has an understanding of the importance of traditions, secrets and policies within the Greek community, said Allison Kenney, assistant general manager of Granville.

The new system would help UNC’s Greek community meet its need for additional housing, she said.

Although that need has been voiced by the Greek community, no one has yet taken advantage of the plan for next year.

A meeting was held in Granville on Feb. 18 to present the idea to residents, but no one attended the meeting.

Kenney said she thought there was not enough time to publicize the meeting, also speculating that no one attended because they had already arranged housing for next year.

But when members of the Granville administration attended a meeting of Greek organization presidents on Feb. 22 to pitch their idea, it was well-received by the organizations’ leaders.

Tucker Piner, president of the Interfraternity Council, said he is in full support of the plan Granville is offering. He intends to promote the option to members of the Greek community partially because of Granville’s proximity to UNC fraternity and sorority houses.

“The location of Granville will help people connect with the Greek houses in the area,” Piner said.

Rhea Keller, president of the Panhellenic Council, said she supported the idea because it could help organizations that don’t yet have a place for members to reside together.

The Granville option is similar to how Duke University has functioned since the 1970s.

About 15 percent of Duke’s West Campus dorms are occupied by Greek organizations, said Jennifer Frank, assistant director of accommodations at Duke.

In addition to potentially offering Greek blocs, Granville will renovate five halls by next year.

The renovations, which will not change the student rental price, are part of UNC’s ongoing plan for Granville Towers.

The towers, along with University Square, were purchased by the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation in 2008. While the entire area will be redeveloped, it is expected that the towers will stick around for at least another 10 years.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.